I just HAD to share this, in case anyone may of missed it. A, what I believe to be, common switchblade trinket/keychain at 2.75" long, just sold for $111.00 on a certain "site by the Bay". I've seen some really crazy prices as of late there, including lots of Asian switchblades. 7" Rizzys going for $405! But, a common $15 to $25 keychain going for $111?? Some folks must still be drinking from New Years Eve! Or, am I missing something special about this one? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Miniat ... 1438.l2649

JimBrown257 wrote:It's just like I always say, if you list an auto on Ebay, always start the bids at $.99.

That second one probably won't sell even if they lowered it from $155 to $75. It's all about getting multiple bidders early on.

So, it's all about the human nature of competition...."He can't have it if I can't"? Even to the point of a terrible financial decision. See, I don't have that competitive nature. I figure: You want it that bad, you can have it. Sure, I get caught up in the bidding game a little bit, but I think I know when it's time to give it up. At least, I THINK I do...lol

"The Difference Between A Wife's Argument And A Knife? The Knife Has A Point"

JimBrown257 wrote:So, it's all about the human nature of competition.l

I'd say it's roughly half about competition, like they don't think of it as "I didn't get the item" but rather "I lost". They don't want to be losers.

The other half is the sales trick of getting a person to think they are actually going to own it. If the person merely sees a somewhat interesting knife without a low starting bid, they will put it in their watch list and most likely forget all about it. But if they see the item, and see a very low current bid, they will say "What the hell...I'll bid a few bucks on it; maybe I'll get lucky." Then they have it at the top of their Ebay page and they keep seeing it all week. They start thinking about the knife they are going to be getting. Then when someone outbids them, they think "Hey, that's MY knife!" and end up bidding much more than they had ever planned on doing.

So an appealing knife (basically any auto on Ebay) started at $50 might get one, maybe two, early bidders. But a knife started at $.99 will have a bunch of bidders by the time the bids have reached $50. All those bidders will keep upping it as they all have started thinking it is their knife. Then the real action happens at the very end when they all try sniping each other.

But I need to stress that this is only with autos or knives that really spark people's interest. It you list an ordinary manual, even if it is a high quality one that is legitimately worth a lot of money, at $.99, you will likely only end up getting a few bucks.

And, of course, the opposite of this can be used by a smart buyer. Don't get your hopes up for those autos that start low as they will end very high. If you see a knife with a higher starting price, keep an eye on that one as it will often stay close to it's starting price. Take the Ebay Rizzutos we've been seeing, for example. The ones that started low ended up over $400. But the ones that started at $150 usually end around $150.